Alison Burrows had a role in 1997 British movie My Son the Fanatic.[1] That same year, she was one of the two starring actresses in the 1997 short Groove on a Stanley Knife.[2] Between 1999 and 2000, Burrows played Sandra Docherty in the British television series Queer as Folk.[3] In 2005, she guest-starred in the second episode of the television comedy show Shameless.[4] In 2008, she portrayed various characters in the Channel 4 television sketch show pilotSlaterwood, part of Comedy Lab.[5] Burrows has also had guest appearances on several other television series, including Lovejoy (1994), A Prince Among Men (1998), That Peter Kay Thing (2000), Phoenix Nights (2001), Outlaws (2004), Boy Meets Girl (2009) and Girlfriends.[6][7][8][9]
In September 2009, it was announced that Burrows would be joining the cast of the British soap opera Hollyoaks as Kathleen McQueen, part of the established McQueen family.[10] The introduction of the character had been announced earlier that year, although it had not been confirmed who would be would be portraying her.[11] Burrows first appeared in an episode of the series 2 of the Hollyoaks spinoff Hollyoaks Later, originally broadcast on 30 September 2009, before debuting on the main show later in December of that year for a longer stint.[10] She appeared for a two-month stint and departed in February 2010.[12] Burrows later returned to Hollyoaks for another stint beginning in December 2010.[13][12]Jorgie Porter, who portrays Kathleen's daughter Theresa McQueen, "loved" working with Burrows, telling Inside Soap, "The scenes we do together are so intense - I hope she stays at Hollyoaks for a lot longer this time".[14] Burrows also portrayed Kathleen in the one-off late-night special episode Hollyoaks: King of Hearts which was broadcast on 15 December 2010.[15][16][17] Burrows appeared for several stints on the soap in a recurring capacity.[18] She later reprised the role for another guest stint beginning on 25 August 2014.[19]
In December 2014, it was announced that Burrows had joined the cast of the soap opera Coronation Street as Arlene Tinker, the sister of established character Beth Tinker (Lisa George), for a guest stint which aired in early 2015.[20] Burrows was cast alongside Juliette Kaplan (Agnes Tinker) and Kate Fitzgerald (Nancy Tinker), who played Arlene and Beth's grandmother and mother, respectively, to introduce Beth's family to the soap.[21] Burrows later returned to the role in scenes that aired in 2018 and 2019 for storylines relating to her daughter, Sinead Tinker (Katie McGlynn).[22][23][24] George noted on Twitter that she enjoyed working with Burrows.[25] Burrows had previously appeared on Coronation Street prior to being cast as Arlene.[10]
